


Safe and sound

by yogini



Series: Fantastic Nifflers and Why They Are Awesome [3]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Cute, Fluff, Gen, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Nifflers, Past/referenced animal abuse, Pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-09-28 04:26:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10071434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yogini/pseuds/yogini
Summary: Yes, these days he’s a far cry from the dirty, scared creature that Newt picked up all those months ago, who cowered in the back of his cage, terrified, and refused to let anyone come near him and Newt’s glad to see him so happy but when the niffler all but laughs him in the face and scampers off to rob a bank Newt thinks that maybe he took the whole independence thing a bit too far.The niffler has found a new home with Newt...





	

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Fantastic beasts and where to find them or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

The evening is approaching and it’s time to take care of all the creatures, feed them and otherwise prepare for the night. Newt moves from nests to burrows to fields, handing out food, checking injuries and administering treatments and cuddles as needed. As he walks around he’s followed by a small shadow in the form of the niffler who trots along, chittering and chattering and generally getting in the way, but Newt likes the company well enough and doesn’t mind almost falling over a couple of times.

 

The last thing he does every night before going to sleep is to prepare the potions that he needs the first thing in the morning and normally the niffler would return to his burrow by then but tonight he stays close, clambering onto the workbench and attentively following the steps of preparation as Newt chops, crushes and blends the herbs. When he’s done putting away the finished potions he pauses for a moment and looks at the niffler who’s busy sifting through the contents of a drawer, holding this up and discarding that as he no doubt assesses the level of shine on each item. He lets the niffler indulge for a while, watching and feeling equal parts happy and sad when he thinks about the difference about then and now.

 

The niffler’s dark fur is shiny now and his eyes are bright and alert, looking nothing like the miserable little creature that they found during the raid, half-starved and with dirty, matted fur, eyes empty and unfocused. His claws had not been tended to in god knows how long and Newt had to sedate him just to be able to assess the damage, let alone to be able to do any treatment. It has been hard work to undo the damage and restore the faith that had been destroyed. He was suspicious against the food and the water that he was given despite being both ravenous and thirsty, having been drugged numerous times to be more easily subdued. He didn’t like anyone to touch the pouch on his stomach, remembering the harsh hands who’d emptied it of all the things that he’d been forced to steal, night after night even if he was tired or hungry. And he’d fly off the handle completely if he saw anything with the barest resemblance to a cage, box or anything else that could be used to lock him up.     

 

It had taken a lot of time for him to trust Newt, to really believe that he wouldn’t hurt him or force him to steal things or lock him into a small, cold cage but seeing him now, happily following him around, comfortable with his presence is all the proof that Newt needs to know that kindness and time has worked its magic and made the small creature healthy again. Yes, these days he’s a far cry from the dirty, scared creature that Newt picked up all those months ago, who cowered in the back of his cage, terrified, and refused to let anyone come near him and Newt’s glad to see him so happy but when the niffler all but laughs him in the face and scampers off to rob a bank Newt thinks that maybe he took the whole independence thing a bit too far.

 

He forces himself to return to the present when the niffler suddenly stills, looking intensely at a small silvery hip flask that Newt honestly didn’t know he owned. It seems to meet the approval of the small creature and he clears his throat pointedly and holds his hand out before it disappears. The niffler sulks and pouts but ultimately hands it over and Newt places it back with everything else and closes the drawer before getting ready to sleep, placing a small charm on the drawer to make it niffler-proof.  

 

When he climbs into bed and pulls the covers up to his chin he hears the scraping of claws and a moment later the niffler’s head appears above the bedframe. He makes an inquisitive noise and Newt, a little surprised but happy, rolls down the covers to allow the niffler to burrow down with him. It takes only a minimum of wriggling before he’s curled into a small ball, tucked in securely beneath Newt’s chin and then they both drift off to sleep.

 

⁕⁑⁑⁕

 

The niffler likes his new human. He wasn’t too sure at first because all he could remember was mean humans with rough hands but this one has never grabbed him tightly or yelled at him, and with time he starts to believe that he won’t do so in the future either.

 

And he doesn’t. He only gives him good food, not the bad kind that made him feel sleepy and weird, and he helps comb out his fur so that the tangles don’t pull uncomfortably on his skin anymore. He’s never harsh with him and he’s helped build a perfect nest where he can keep all his treasures. It’s not too big and not too small, just the perfect size, and it is always warm and cosy.

 

Like all two-legged creatures he’s overly concerned with what’s mine and what’s yours, especially when it comes to nice shiny things, but he can overlook that. His human is always nice, even when he tickles him to get the shiny things out of his pouch, and even if he doesn’t like to give up his treasures, because _treasures_ , he thinks it’s fun to be tickled. Besides, his human always cuddles with him afterwards. He suspects that that also has something to do with the fact that his human wants to keep an eye on him but he doesn’t mind. His human is warm and safe and gives the best head scratches. And belly scratches. All the scratches really. And the best thing is that when he just happens to end up inside a bank vault his human might shake his head and look at him disapprovingly but he’s knows that as soon as they get home he’ll still be allowed to curl up close and sleep safely.


End file.
